Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-07-31

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Student answer (Band 7.5)

The plan illustrates the changes in a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks today. The changes in the plan describe new settings made in the layout of the cafe after redesigning it.

Overall, the cafe plan was in an L layout that includes all the necessary areas like dining rooms, kitchen area, toilets and tables and chairs. The plan was optimized by adding more stalls and expanding the place for outdoor seating as well.

Before redesigning, the cafe included a simple layout with a kitchen including a serving area of all food and drink, toilets, staff dining rooms and a bin. The table and chairs occupied majority of the area, while bin was a given least amount of space. There were two staff dining rooms, each with a round table surrounding 6 chairs, whereas the toilet area was at the south-east corner.

Today the cafe includes multiple upgrades and increased space. The kitchen area included a space for hot meals, removing the old serving are. Tables and chairs as usual occupy larger area, but for a change there was a salad bar stall specially for vegetarians. The staff dining rooms were removed and two sections were included, one for coffee bar and another for take away food counter. Toilets are at the same place where they belong, but an interesting upgrade is installing recycling bin in the bin area. A new outdoor seating was formed for the customers to experience food with naturistic feeling, this area also included a special barbecue stall.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response covers all key features of the cafe redesign, including the kitchen modifications, the addition of new stalls, and the outdoor seating area. You successfully identified the main changes, such as the removal of staff dining rooms and the introduction of the salad bar and barbecue area. However, the overview could be more analytical; instead of just stating it was an 'L layout', you should highlight the most significant transformation, such as the shift from a purely functional space to one with more diverse dining options and outdoor facilities. The report is well-structured and addresses the prompt effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The response is logically organized, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs detailing the 'before' and 'after' states. You use cohesive devices such as 'Before redesigning' and 'Today' to guide the reader through the timeline. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two time periods. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions between sentences within paragraphs could be more sophisticated to improve the overall cohesion. For instance, the connection between the kitchen changes and the seating area could be linked more fluidly to show the relationship between the layout changes.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the changes, using terms like 'optimized', 'upgrades', and 'layout'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'naturistic feeling' (which is not standard English) and 'serving are' (a typo for 'area'). Additionally, 'where they belong' is slightly informal for an academic report. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise collocations related to spatial descriptions, such as 'reconfigured', 'designated area', or 'spacious'. Despite these minor slips, the vocabulary is adequate to convey the information clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'bin was a given least amount of space' (incorrect article usage) and 'serving are' (spelling error). Some sentences are slightly awkward, such as 'The plan was optimized by adding more stalls and expanding the place for outdoor seating as well.' While these errors are present, they do not impede communication. To improve, ensure consistent subject-verb agreement and pay closer attention to article usage and prepositions when describing spatial arrangements.

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